Ritzkin
by Crawler
Summary: As a kitten, the Rum Tum Tugger has a nasty encounter with Macavity and his brother, Ritzkin. But Ritzkin, the silver tabby, doesn't seem to be as evil as others make him out to be. Munkustrap's history Ritzkin Arc 1
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ritzkin (1/6)  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Additional Notes: The biggest rivals to the Jellicle tribe in this story is the Monnik tribe. They got their name for me thinking I was terribly clever - Jellicle is the end of an_gelical_. The rivals of angels are demons. De_monic_. Terribly clever, isn't it?

This is the first story in what will hopefully be an arc revolving around Ritzkin and Munkustrap.

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Ritzkin - Part 1

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"Well, well, well, what _do_ we have here? A little black kitten, lost on his own?"

Tugger drew back with a hiss at the sound of the purring voice, his ears flat against his head. Skollus, his brother, bounded back toward him, mewing in distress.

"Ah, _not_ alone. Two to play with, brother!"

"Get _down_, idiot!" Tugger smacked Skollus with his uninjured paw, making the slightly older black kitten drop into a crouch. This wasn't good. They were in Monnik territory, and Tugger had a bleeding leg. He couldn't run like this, and Skollus was too moronic to be trusted to do anything without his help. "We're gonna haveta fight 'em."

Skollus looked over at Tugger's gold face and nodded, complete trust in his reddish eyes, trust tinged with only a bit of fear. They had just escaped another battle with a pack of Pollicle pups, which was why they were in Monnik territory with Tugger bleeding all over the place instead of safe in their Jellicle home.

Tugger really hoped their new assailants were kittens. He knew at least one of them was a cat, that type of purr couldn't be replicated by any other animal _he_ had encountered, and since the purring one mentioned a brother, presumably there was a second cat. The voice, though cold and cruel, was rather high for a tom, but too low for a queen. A male kitten, however, could easily fit into that range – he knew, his own caterwauls sounded a lot like that.

Sure enough, a small, lean kitten paced toward him, a cruel smirk twisting his lips. In the dim light, Tugger could make out the stripes of a ginger tabby. When Skollus twitched beside him, Tugger turned his head enough to watch a grey tabby kitten emerge from their other side. The grey tabby wasn't smirking, but he didn't look very kind.

"What should we do with these two?" the ginger tabby asked, grinning wickedly at the Jellicle brothers.

"Why are you even bothering to ask me, Macavity?" the grey tabby replied, sitting a foot away, his tail flicking irritably.

Tugger's eyes widened at name, and he scrabbled back away from Macavity, pressing his back against Skollus'. Macavity. That meant the grey tabby was Ritzkin. Though only kittens, Macavity and Ritzkin already had a reputation as the Terror Twins, cats who were evil incarnate. As the story went, they were born with a terrible bloodlust, which they immediately began to slake by devouring their family. Macavity ate their four littermates while Ritzkin chewed his way out of his mother's belly. They were killing full-grown rats by the time they were a week old, and their first Pollicle kill had come after only a month of life.

Tugger knew that Macavity and Ritzkin were his age. He thought they were so cool, without any moms to wash their ears at the most embarrassing moments, or stupid older brothers who sat on their heads (Macavity never sat on Ritzkin's head in the stories). Still, now that Tugger wasn't listening to a story, but staring at the two evil Monnik kittens, he realized they weren't as cool as they used to be. Especially not with Macavity chuckling as he described the best way to eat the two…

Tugger glanced between the Monniks. Macavity was hopping from paw to paw, excitedly detailing the way kitten bones would crunch between their teeth. Ritzkin was looking bored and irritated, flicking his tail faster and faster. The seeds of an escape plan began to form in Tugger's mind.

"Skollus!" he hissed, careful to keep his voice as quiet as possible. "When I says "go," run thatta way," he pointed in the direction of Jellicle territory, "until you finds one of the adults, and tell thems to come here, and fast, 'cause I'm being attacked by Leviticus!" Leviticus and Deuteronomy were old rivals, and news of Deuteronomy's youngest son being attacked by Leviticus would be sure to bring the Jellicle army coming. "You got me?"

Skollus blinked slowly, his mouth hanging open, head tilted to the side, and just as Tugger was about to cry in frustration, he gave a nod. Tugger gave a weak smile. Okay, Skollus understood. Now to distract the Monniks, and pray he wasn't eaten alive before the Jellicles could arrive.

The Monniks, though, seemed happy to do the distracting for him. As Macavity clapped his paws together, getting to the climax of his tale (something about Tugger's still-beating heart making a 'squelch' as he bit into it), Ritzkin opened his mouth and yawned, big and loud, showing off a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Macavity lunged forward with a hiss, glaring at Ritzkin. "Do _you_ have a better idea!?" he demanded, scratching at the pavement with his claws.

"Go!" Tugger whispered to Skollus, who took off quietly (for once).

"Why do we always have to eat everything?" Ritzkin asked, seemingly unfazed by Macavity's show of temper. "They're _cats._ Like _us._"

"They're not like us! They're not Monniks!" Neither cat seemed to notice Skollus' departure.

"I bet they even have names," Ritzkin continued on. "Hey, you, kitten, what's your name?"

Tugger blinked, trying not to cower under the other kittens' scrutiny as two pairs of eyes, one brown, one gold, were turned on him. "I'm the Rum Tum Tugger," he said, cursing the way his voice broke with a squeak.

"See, he's just like us." Ritzkin lifted a paw to his mouth and began to wash it delicately. "And now that he has a name, we can't eat him. We don't eat named cats."

"Says who?" Macavity smacked the ground again. "Says who, says who, says who?"

"Says me," Ritzkin replied, sticking his tongue out far more than was necessary to wash his paw.

Macavity hissed, arching his back and fluffing his fur up. Ritzkin lowered his paw and rose, returning the hiss.

Tugger tried to push himself onto four trembling paws and limp away while the brothers were distracted.

"Stop it!" Macavity launched himself at Tugger, who fell on his hurt paw with a whimper. He felt sharp teeth pierce through his ruff before Macavity tumbled off Tugger with a yowl, having been tackled by Ritzkin.

"You stop it!" Ritzkin shouted, stomping his grey paw on his brother's. "We're not eating a kitten we know the name of!"

"Maybe _you_ won't, but _I'm_ hungry!" Macavity shouted back.

Tugger whimpered, nudging his left paw. He couldn't feel it very well. Running was definitely out of the question, and walking would be difficult at best.

"Ahem." A larger shadow loomed over the three kittens, belonging to a large gold and brown tom. "Is everything all right, boys?"

"Uncle Skimble!" Tugger shouted. "They was gonna eat me!"

"Eat you? Now, that wouldn't be very nice." Behind Skimbleshanks, an older red tabby sat – Asparagus, the theatre cat. Skollus had come through for him! Tugger was never so glad in his life to see an adult cat, much less two of them.

Macavity hissed, hunkering low to the ground. In front of the two Jellicle toms, he didn't look so big or scary anymore. "We weren't _really_ gonna eat him. We were just playing, weren't we, Kinny?"

"Yeah, just playing." Ritzkin was slinking backwards away from the group, already mostly covered by shadows. "Mac, I hear Mom calling. We need to get back."

Macavity shot Tugger a glare as he turned and bounded after Ritzkin, whispering, "I'll eat you _someday!_"

Skimbleshanks shook his head and padded over to Tugger, nudging him onto his back. "Skollus came running through the theatre, yowling up a storm about Pollicles and monsters and you being in trouble." He licked the wound on Tugger's leg, cleaning it roughly. "I didn't think two little kittens would be enough for you to get in over your head." He sounded amused, and Tugger's fur bristled angrily.

"It wasn't just two kittens!" he began to protest, but Gus cut him off.

"Pollicles too, right? You and Skollus fought off a whole pack?" He winked at Tugger before picking him up by the scruff of his neck. Tugger curled up as if it were his momma carrying him.

Skimbleshanks shook his head and followed Gus back to Jellicle land. "You shouldn't encourage their stories, Gus, you'll only make them worse." Gus gave a slight toss of his head and roll of his eyes, but made no other reply, as his mouth was full.

Shortly after returning to Jellicle territory, the trio was beset by a group of Jellicles. Coricopat and Tantomile, the twins, were in the lead, their glittering eyes focused on Tugger. Carsina came running up behind, Tugger's sleek black mother. She pushed between the twins and pulled Tugger from Gus, cooing over him, licking his fur down, washing behind his ears… "_Mo-om!_" Tugger wailed, trying to bat her away, feeling his cheeks burn. Oh how embarrassing! And in front of Cassandra, too! He could see the older Burmese sitting behind the twins. She gave him a small smile when he caught her eye, and his cheeks flared up even worse.

"You're very lucky you weren't killed!" Carsina cried, lecturing him between swipes of her tongue. "Skollus was wailing about the horrible monsters and the Pollicles, and _Leviticus!"_

Skimbleshanks laughed. "Nah, don't worry, Miss Carsina. The monsters were nothing more than a couple of Monnik kits. Tugger probably scraped his paw on something sharp and they were teasing him about it. There was no scent of Leviticus or Pollicles."

Gus sighed, shaking his head ruefully. "Skimbleshanks, the least you could do is let the kits have their stories. Imagination is the gift of the young, after all." He passed by the other Jellicles, bumping his shoulder against Carsina's. "Keep that up, Missy, and you'll lick away his ears. Now me, I'm going back to the theatre."

"Yes, yes," Skimbleshanks said, nodding. "I'll be going with you, see if that show is over yet. Tell Jenny I'll come by for a visit after supper!" With a wave of his tail, he trotted off after Gus.

Carsina picked Tugger up, and he could hear her still scolding him through his fur. Cassandra's smile seemed to be laughing at him now, and Tugger curled his hind paws up, wishing he could disappear. Nobody would believe him now, if he told them how he had been attacked by Macavity and Ritzkin and managed to hold off the two bloodthirsty brothers, buying Skollus enough time to make his escape back to the safety of their home… and to make things worse, Cassandra had to see his mom bathe him!


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Ritzkin (2/6)  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Disclaimer: I completely forgot to mention in Part 1 that I DON'T OWN CATS! I'm sorry to anyone I offended cries

A HUUUUUGE thank you goes to everyone who's read this, reviewed this, or favorited this in some way. Sorry for the delay in putting up a new chapter - wasn't letting me update, for some reason.

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Ritzkin - Part 2

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It was funny, how age changed the way you looked at things, Tugger mused to himself, sitting in his human's window. Now that he was almost a year old, three whole months since his encounter with the Terror Twins, he could reflect back on his experience with wisdom. Macavity and Ritzkin really weren't all that terrifying. Sure, they were nasty, but they were just putting on an act, swaggering around like him and Rump- er, Skollus did. They didn't mean nothing by it.

Out in the yard, Skollus chased his tail, yowling whenever he managed to catch it in his sharp claws or teeth. Tugger rolled his eyes. Skollus hadn't grown any more intelligent with age. He went by a different name now, Rumpus Cat. Exotica, Cassandra's younger housemate had started calling him that after he made a ruckus one night. When Cassandra mentioned it, Tugger began calling him Rumpus as well. It made Cassandra smile at him, so he made sure to call Skollus 'Rumpus' whenever she was around. Even the older cats were beginning to pick up on it now.

Tugger picked his way along the windowsill to squeeze out through the hole he had chewed in the screen. He jumped down easily, pleased that there was no more twingeing in his paw. It turned out that Pollicle had gotten him worse than anyone originally thought, and the humans had taken him to the veterinarian, who had tied up his paw too tight for him to bend it for a whole _month._ Tugger hadn't minded _too_ much, though, since the bandage gave him a lot of attention with the young queens, who all wanted to fuss over him. He hadn't minded Bombalurina licking his ears, or Cassandra helping him though the junkyard, often putting on exaggerated grimaces to bring them cooing. Carsina had tried to fuss over him, but he kept hiding from her. He regretted that now, a bit.

Not too long ago, some of the humans had moved out of their house, and they took Carsina with them. Tugger had found himself missing his mother more than he had thought, but Old Deuteronomy often came by to visit his youngest sons, comforting them in their mother's absence.

"Where ya going? Where ya going?" Rumpus tackled Tugger, his tail flicking in youthful enthusiasm.

Tugger shoved Rumpus off him. "I'm just taking a walk. You don't gotta come."

"I wanna!"

"Nope, sorry." Tugger jumped onto the low wall surrounding their house and flicked his fluffy tail at his short-haired brother. "I'm going _solo."_

"Aww!"

Tugger sauntered off, ignoring his brother's wail of despair. Rumpus would find something to distract him in a few seconds. He wouldn't even remember Tugger had left him behind when Tugger returned. Besides, Bombalurina wanted to show him her favorite pigeon-hunting ground… just him and Bomba… Tugger grinned, fluffing his mane as he walked. She really liked his long fur, it was almost _exotic _in their little tribe. Aside from him and Deuteronomy, there weren't really any _true_ long-hairs in their tribe. A couple of the cats had very very short fur, like Cassandra and Exotica, but the majority of the tribe members were ordinary short-hairs. Coricopat and Tantomile were exceptions to that rule, with their fur being some sort of mix of short and ultra-short. They were just oddballs in general, Tugger had decided long ago.

Bomba was almost three years old, and the red queen knew much about the ways of the world. She had implied several times to Tugger that she knew just _why_ his stomach went all funny and heat rushed between his legs whenever he saw the tribe's young queens, and that in and of itself made him curious and want to go pigeon-hunting with her. See, he had never _told_ her how he felt around her, or any of the other girls, so how did she know?

That, and whenever he was around Bomba, his stomach felt all funny and heat rushed between his legs, but it felt really _good._

Bombalurina was waiting for Tugger on a dumpster by a Chinese restaurant, and when she smirked like that at him… He fluffed his ruff again and hopped up beside her, grinning back.

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A _looong_ while later, Tugger and Bomba stretched out on the roof, a smug look on Bombalurina's face and a broad smile on Tugger's. She had done more than just explain those feelings to him, she had shown him what they meant. Several times. And she had shown him her favorite pigeon-hunting place on top of that! Sated in several ways, Tugger yawned and flopped onto his back. "I can see Scabees land from here." The Scabees were one of the rival cat tribes in the area, a bunch of snotty purebreds who mostly kept to their big old manor houses on the hills. They were pains in the tail, though, and when enough of them got together, no one was safe. Bustopher Jones used to be a Scabees, it was said, but he had asked to join the Jellicle tribe because the best food could be found in Jellicle land. Deuteronomy had let him in without any question, and Bustopher made his way easily between the two tribes now. Tugger had only seen Bustopher once before, and his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head – Bustopher was bigger around than Deuteronomy with all his muscle and fur! 

"You can see the Monnik land too," Bombalurina said, lazily lifting a paw to point toward the river and the docks. "Did you hear what happened last night over there?"

Tugger rolled over again, ears perking up. He was always keen to hear a bit of news about the Monniks. "No, what happened?"

Bomba washed her outstretched paw, checking it over several times, before deigning to answer. "A Pollicle was killed, a big one."

"By the Monniks?" Tugger wondered if the Terror Twins had done it. They _had _eaten their family as infants, after all.

"Word on the street is that it was _definitely_ a cat kill." Bomba gave a delicate shiver, her eyes glowing excitedly. "Can you imagine? Cats who can bring down the big Pollicles…"

"I wonder if Macavity and Ritzkin did it," Tugger mused, mostly to himself.

"You should ask them!" Bombalurina turned her big eyes to the younger cat. "You've hung out with them before, right?"

"Eh…" Tugger had figured no one would believe him if he said that the Terror Twins had tried to eat him, so there wouldn't be any harm in stretching the story a hair. "Yeah. Yeah, we're real good friends."

"Ask them." Bomba wriggled a little closer to Tugger, nuzzling his cheek. "Go on, ask them! Do it for me? I want to know what happened…" she purred.

Tugger knew that Bomba liked to flirt with danger. She would often take strolls along the border of the Jellicle and Monnik lands, sometimes even venturing into their territory to join the Monnik cats in games of cards. She claimed to have a friend among the Monniks herself, a kitten named Demeter. Unlike Tugger, though, her claimed friend was low on the pecking order. Macavity and Ritzkin were some of the most infamous Monniks, second only to Leviticus himself (or so it was said). Demeter probably wouldn't know what had happened, but surely the Terror Twins would know. The only problem was, Tugger didn't actually_ know_ the twins. "Uh…" Bomba chose that moment to give Tugger a kiss, and his stomach did that weird loopy thing again. "Okay, sure. I'll go ask them."

"Ask them now?"

Tugger grinned and winked at Bomba, rising to his feet. "Yeah, I'll ask them now! You want to know, I'll get you the info!" He'd do anything for the seductive queen, at that moment. When Bomba smiled, he almost slipped off the roof. Luckily for his pride, he made a graceful recovery and caught himself. "I'll be back in a few hours." Flashing her a smile over his shoulder, he jumped off the roof and headed for Monnik land.

Ten feet into Monnik territory, Tugger began to feel like he had made a huge mistake in coming here. The Terror Twins were not his friends, as he claimed, and they would sooner eat him than fill him in on what was going on. He almost turned back, but he stopped himself, glaring at the ground beneath his feet. "Stop it, you coward," he mumbled. "You said you'd do this, so by the Everlasting Cat, you will!"

"You're invoking the Everlasting Cat? Do you have any idea how _Jellicle_ that is?"

Tugger leapt and whirled at the voice, his claws out and fangs bared. A splash of dirty silver appeared, pouring off a ledge. Tugger's golden eyes widened as he recognized the lean tabby slinking toward him. _Ritzkin._

"You look familiar," Ritzkin said, circling around Tugger. "Have we threatened you before? Not likely, since you're still standing."

Tugger narrowed his eyes, dropping into a protective crouch. He didn't let his eyes leave Ritzkin's thin body, but he strained his ears to pick up the signs of another life. Ritzkin had said 'we,' did that mean Macavity was nearby? "Yeah, actually, you two did once. Your brother wanted to eat me."

Ritzkin stopped his circling, sitting opposite Tugger and curling his tail around his paws. He cocked his head to the side as if thinking. "Wait a minute… are you that Jellicle kitten?"

"I'm_ the_ Rum Tum Tugger." He wasn't even a year old yet, but Tugger had already slept with a queen and knew that by stressing the 'the,' he sounded more important. He was important. He lifted his head and looked down his nose at Ritzkin, noticing for the first time that he was actually bigger than the tabby. That might have something to do with the amount of fur he had, but that also might have to do with the fact that Ritzkin looked half-starved.

To his surprise, Ritzkin laughed, and it wasn't the cruel sound he had always imagined. It sounded almost like Rumpus' laughter. "I _do _remember you! Macavity wanted to eat you, and he was so excited about it that he didn't notice when the other one ran away."

Tugger's ears went up, and he took a step back in surprise. All this time, he thought he had been so clever, sneaking Rumpus past the warring brothers, when Ritzkin had known all along? "Why didn't you say anything?"

Ritzkin shrugged, his silver fur rippling over his shoulders. "I didn't want to eat you. I draw the line at cats. I didn't want to watch Macavity eat you either."

Despite his better judgment, Tugger was relaxing. Ritzkin didn't seem evil at all. He wasn't threatening Tugger, and he was actually talking with him, like a friend would. Tugger perked up at that. There weren't any toms his own age in the Jellicle tribe, unless you counted Rumpus, and Tugger didn't. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots were both expecting kittens any day now, but those would be_ babies,_ and they wouldn't be any fun. Coricopat was a couple years older than him, and he was always more interested in talking silently with his sister than playing with Tugger, and then there were the queens. You didn't play with queens the same way you played with kittens. Tugger knew that. "Is Macavity here too?" he asked, looking around.

Ritzkin shook his head, shifting his weight slightly. "Macavity's down at the docks. I'm on guard duty."

"You're doing a real good job guarding," Tugger said with a grin. "I almost didn't get in."

"I stopped you from getting anywhere important, didn't I?" Ritzkin retorted. "And if you try to get past me, I'll eat your tail."

"I thought you drew the line at eating cats!"

"Yeah, well, there are always exceptions." Ritzkin grinned at Tugger, and Tugger couldn't help but return the smile. "So, what brings a Jellicle into Monnik territory?"

"I, uh…" Tugger rubbed a paw over his ears. "I was looking for you, actually."

Ritzkin's ears perked up, and he looked interested. "Looking for me? Why?"

"I had a question," Tugger replied. "See, one of my friends heard about the Pollicle on the docks and she wanted to know who killed it… so I offered to come ask."

"Why would you do something like that?" Ritzkin asked, his ears going back, eyes narrowing in mistrust.

Tugger swallowed, remembering how dangerous Ritzkin was supposed to be. "Because I remembered you hadn't wanted to eat me and I thought you still wouldn't want to eat me so maybe you'd actually answer the question and I could help her and neither of us would have to get eaten." He didn't breathe even after he finished his long sentence, waiting for Ritzkin's response, ready to take to his heels if need be.

After a long pause, Ritzkin relaxed minutely. "You trusted me?"

"Yeah," Tugger said, flicking his tail awkwardly. "I guess I did."

Ritzkin frowned. "I don't think I've ever been trusted before."

"You're being trusted now, aren't you?" Tugger asked, confused. "To be a guard?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Nah. We've got nothing important out this far. It's just punish-" he cut off abruptly.

"Punishment?" Tugger finished for him. "You're being punished?"

Ritzkin shifted his weight again before nodding, not meeting Tugger's gaze anymore. "Yeah. I kinda… messed up last night. Macavity and I attacked the Pollicle. It was Macavity's idea. I was supposed to distract it while he prepared…" Ritzkin shuffled his paws. "Well, I was supposed to distract it, lure it closer to the water. Except I didn't do a good job, and it went after one of the kittens."

Ritzkin looked so morose right then that Tugger moved closer to him and nudged his shoulder as if Ritzkin had been a fellow Jellicle. "Chin up, it wasn't your fault. You're just a kitten yourself, right?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Yeah… but still, I should have been able to do _something!_ Macavity managed to get the Pollicle down, and I tore out its throat, but still… that kitten got hurt because I didn't do my job. Nobody else was supposed to get hurt!"

Tugger licked Ritzkin's shoulder and nearly gagged at the sooty taste of Ritzkin's fur. No wonder he looked so grimy – his fur tasted like he had rolled in a fireplace! "It's okay, Ritzy."

Ritzkin stared at Tugger in surprise, thoughts of the injured kitten gone from his face. "What did you call me?"

"Ritzy," Tugger answered with a bit of a giggle. "I think it suits you!"

Ritzkin made a face, taking a step back from Tugger. "If you're gonna call me Ritzy, then I'm gonna call you… Rumsy!"

"Ritzy-mitzy!" Tugger called, bumping his shoulder against Ritzkin's.

"Dumbsy-Rumsy!" Ritzkin countered, pouncing on Tugger.

"Mitzy!"

"Dumbsy!"

The two kittens rolled over and over, wrestling in the way young toms do, snapping at tails and paws without actually biting hard. Tugger kept laughing as Ritzkin would try to tackle him, only to wind up with a mouthful of Tugger's long fur. This went on for a few minutes, until Ritzkin gave a grunt of pain as Tugger pinned him with some force. Tugger immediately backed off, looking at his new friend with some alarm. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to… did I scratch you?"

Ritzkin quickly rolled off his back, grimacing slightly as he rose to his feet again. "No, you didn't hurt me."

"You sounded hurt," Tugger said. "You _look_ hurt."

Ritzkin closed his eyes and shook his head. "But not from you." He lifted his right paw slightly and set it down again. "I fell on my shoulder last night, and it's still kinda sore. That's all."

Last night in the Pollicle fight? Tugger wanted to question Ritzkin more, but the closed-off look Ritzkin was giving him kept Tugger's mouth shut, so he changed the topic. "Hey, are you hungry? I know a great place to get some food. There's this little pub not too far from here that has great leftovers."

Ritzkin perked up for a minute, but he pulled back again. "In Jellicle land?"

"Yeah," Tugger said. "But hey, don't worry about it! You'll be with me. I'm the Rum Tum Tugger. No one will get mad at you if you're with me."

"You don't think too highly of yourself, do you?" Ritzkin asked sarcastically, but he couldn't help smiling at Tugger's grin. "All right, let's go find this pub of yours."

Tugger led Ritzkin back into Jellicle territory. As they passed the border, Ritzkin dropped into a crouch, slinking along almost on his belly. His ears were pressed back flat against his skull, and his claws were out. Tugger looked back at him and sighed. "Could you be more obvious about being a Monnik?"

Ritzkin glared at Tugger. "I'm in enemy territory, alone, and you want me to be unprepared for an attack?"

"You're not alone. I'm with you. And we're not going to be attacked by Jellicles. I told you, you're with me."

Ritzkin shook his head. "Don't you understand what 'enemy territory' means? I'm Leviticus' son in Deuteronomy's land. If any other Jellicle finds me, I'm as good as dead."

Tugger scoffed at that. "Oh, come on! I'm Deuteronomy's son, and I was in Leviticus' land. You don't see me dead, do you?"

"Only because I was…" Ritzkin paused and ever so slightly relaxed. "Because I was with you."

"See? You're safe, just like I was safe. Now come on." Tugger trotted off down the street. Ritzkin slunk after him, still low to the ground, but he didn't look quite as threatened anymore.

The trash cans outside the White Hart pub had the best soggy chips and partially-eaten chicken out of any Jellicle haunt, but they were very close to Monnik territory. As such, most Jellicles avoided them unless they were going as a full pack. When Tugger brought Ritzkin there, the cans were empty of other cats. "You wait out here. I'll bring us something good to eat." He leapt up onto the edge of the can closest to the pub door, sniffing intently.

Ritzkin wedged himself between a pair of cans, keeping alert for any enemies. Though Jellicles were the biggest threat here, there was also danger from Pollicles and humans. He was grateful that he didn't have to make the leap to the trash cans, as his shoulder was still aching.

Tugger returned in a few minutes with his long coat sticking in odd directions and half a chicken sandwich held triumphantly between his jaws. Ritzkin's stomach growled, and Tugger set the chicken in front of him. "Let's eat!"

The two young toms made short work of the sandwich and a few soggy chips they found. After their meal, they began grooming themselves, smoothing out the fur that had gotten mussed from their dumpster diving and cleaning off their paws and faces.

"Rumsy?"

Tugger looked over at Ritzkin, his tongue sticking out slightly, one paw raised. Ritzkin shuffled his own paws, now noticeably less sooty.

"Thanks. For lunch."

Tugger grinned and fluffed his mane, which was slowly beginning to thicken with his age. "No problem! This is my favorite place to eat, but most cats don't like to come here with me. I like eating with friends!"

Ritzkin smiled back, rising to his feet. "I should get back before anyone misses me."

"Aww, you can't stay and play?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Not today. I'm being punished, remember? Maybe in a couple days."

"We can play again?" Tugger had hoped Ritzkin would be able to play, but he hadn't thought it would actually be possible, what with the difference in their tribes and families and lands.

"I think… I think we can." Ritzkin rolled a pebble between his paws as he thought. "You know the place where the river bends at the border of our lands? There's that human bridge with the rocks under it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it. We can meet there?"

Ritzkin nodded. "Maybe, if you can play, you can be there at high-sun, and if I can play, I'll be there at high-sun, and if we're both there, then we can play!"

Tugger danced a few steps in excitement. "That'll be fun! I can show you the rat run, and the climbing tree, and the laundry chute…"

Ritzkin did a dance of his own, catching Tugger's enthusiasm. "And I can show you the docks and teach you how to roof-jump and ledge-walk…"

"We can race the Rumpus!"

"And spy on the queens!"

The two young toms finished their happy dances at the same time: Ritzkin with a high leap and Tugger with a backflip. Gigging, they reached out and touched paws. "See you later, then?" Ritzkin asked.

Tugger nodded. "Yeah, high-sun. And you'll teach me how to jump that high?"

Ritzkin grinned, twitching his whiskers. "Yeah, I guess I could… if you teach me that flip!" He waved. "See you later!"

Tugger waved and waved until that dirty grey tail disappeared around the corner. Ritzkin was his friend now! He had a lot to tell Bomba!


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Ritzkin  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Additional Notes: This is a short part, meant to explain the Monniks more than move the story along. I'll put part 4 up tomorrow to move things along more.

HUUUGE thank you again to everyone who's responded (and bigger thanks to Puddycat - link didn't work, but since you gave the name of the site, Google did. :) )

Also, if anyone is interested in a CATS RP (I'm playing Munkustrap from this arc, as well as Etcetera, Tumblebrutus, and Munk's mommy), check out Our Jellicles (ourjellicles. We need Tugger, Victoria, and Demeter, among others!

Still don't own it.

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Ritzkin - Part 3

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The Monnik tribe and the Jellicle tribe had a few similarities. Both had a patriarch – Deuteronomy for the Jellicles, Leviticus for the Monniks – and those patriarchs were brothers. They had both been Jellicles too, at one point, and the Jellicles had been a large tribe that stretched all the way to the docks on the far side of town. When their father died, though, Leviticus and Deuteronomy had fought for the leadership of the Jellicles. Deuteronomy, though older, would have had no problem letting Leviticus step up, except that Leviticus had ideas for what to do that disturbed the older cat. Rather than see Leviticus' plans implemented, Deuteronomy had faced off against Leviticus in a duel, one which he eventually won. Deuteronomy wanted to soothe his brother's anger, though, and gave him half of the Jellicle land, for him and his followers. Leviticus had soon begun setting up his own tribe, naming them the Monniks. Some things were similar to the Jellicles, especially the patriarchal nature and one main communal gathering place, but Leviticus had used this opportunity to implement his own ideas. As such, the Monniks, had several key differences in how they ran things, most notably how they treated families and queens.

In the Monnik tribe, all the cats were encouraged to cause trouble for humans, dogs, rats, and, occasionally, other cats. As such, the Monniks were a disorderly bunch as a whole, fierce and rough and prone to claw and tooth battles among each other. With this tougher nature, though, there was a chance that toms would attack kittens to get back at intertribal rivals. To prevent this from happening, kittens were separated from their true mothers at birth and mixed up among other the other litters. Very rarely did anyone know who their own children were, much less their rivals'. Most Monniks didn't know who their siblings were, or their parents. Leviticus had fathered most, but not all. Other than that, they simply didn't know. As such, the Monniks came to consider themselves as one large family, with everyone as siblings to each other, and Leviticus the father of all. This was something Leviticus encouraged.

The kittens were kept in two isolated groups from most of the older cats, except the milk-queens, until they were weaned. At that point, the group of toms would be allowed to join the older cats, while the group of queens would continue to grow in their nursery where only queens could visit, until they reached full maturity. At that point, Leviticus would choose a tom, usually someone who had recently won his favor, to welcome them into adulthood properly.

While the young queens were kept away from the influences of toms, adult queens were free to mingle with whoever they pleased. They could tease and flirt and play with the older toms, but only Leviticus was allowed to authorize a mating when a queen was in heat.

All of this, Tugger learned from Ritzkin, who had been surprised to hear that Tugger could mingle with any queen in his tribe, and even more surprised to find that Tugger knew who his family was. Ritzkin had explained how his entire litter had had an identifying mark – one he refused to show Tugger – which was how he and Macavity had known they were brothers after they had been split among the milk-queens (they had ended up in the charge of the same milk-queen). The two brothers had hunted down the rest of their siblings (there had been a total of six, a _huge_ litter), and so Ritzkin was one of the few Monniks who knew his brothers and had met his sisters (that had required quite a bit of sneaking and hiding on his part). As far as his mother went… he had no idea who she was, but he assured Tugger that he hadn't eaten her. Ritzkin loved hearing stories about Tugger's mother, though, and several times, he said he wished he had been able to meet her. He would like to have met a mother. None of the Monnik queens acted like mothers – they either ignored the kittens, or they fussed over them like nannies, not like mothers were supposed to.

Tugger thought Ritzkin was _weird,_ wanting a mother, but, hey, at least Ritzkin was smart, unlike Rumpus.

The two toms spent their days exploring the Monnik and Jellicle territories together, sharing their favorite places with each other (and taking care to avoid other cats). Ritzkin taught Tugger how to jump extra far and balance on a narrow ledge against a wall (very difficult, because you couldn't center yourself, with the wall in the way). In return, Tugger taught Ritzkin how to dance, to really _dance_. Apparently, the Monniks were more interested in wrestling than dancing. Ritzkin had the strength, but he was sorely lacking in grace. Tugger was determined to fix that.

Several months after they began hanging out, though, Tugger found out just how the rumors of the Terror Twins' first massacre began.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Ritzkin (4/6)  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Additional Notes: I still don't own CATS.

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Ritzkin - Part 4

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It was a warm summer day, and Tugger had been let out early by his humans. He was too big, now, to fit through the hole in the window screen. Tugger was nearly a full adult and nearly the size of Deuteronomy, with or without the puffy fur on both of them. He was eager to meet up with Ritzkin, because Ritzkin had promised to tell him about one of his Monnik friends, a thief-in-training named Mungojerrie. Tugger always loved hearing about the rough and tumble Monniks. In return, he had decided to tell Ritzkin a story Gus had told him, about a cat pirate named Growltiger and his beloved Griddlebone.

Tugger arrived at the rocks around the bridge before high-sun and hadn't expected to find Ritzkin there yet. Ritzkin didn't always show up, because he would get in more trouble than Tugger if he was caught. They both knew this because Ritzkin _had_ been caught, a couple times, and severely scolded and given chores as punishment. The last time, Ritzkin had also been given a beating that left him limping when he next saw Tugger, but he had grinned and said it was worth it, that Tugger was more fun than any of the toms or queens of the Monnik tribe, Macavity included.

No sooner then had he stretched out on the sun-warmed rocks was Tugger surprised by his name being called by his friend.

"Rum Tum Tugger? Can you keep a secret?"

Tugger spun around, golden eyes scanning the shadows under the bridge. It took him a minute to find Ritzkin squeezed as far back as he could, cowering against the underside of the bridge. His normally bold friend was curled up tighter than a scared kitten. What alarmed Tugger even more, though, was the way Ritzkin had used his full name, not even just 'Tugger.' They usually called each other Ritzy and Rumsy (or Mitzy and Dumbsy, when they were being insulting). For Ritzkin to use his whole full name… something was wrong. "Ritzy?" Tugger crawled up to where Ritzkin was crouched and curled around him protectively, licking his face and ears the way his mother used to lick his. "Yeah, I can keep a secret. What's wrong?"

Ritzkin cuddled close to Tugger, closing his eyes, and Tugger realized that the grey tabby was shivering. Something _really_ horrible must have happened to frighten his friend this badly.

Tugger wrapped his paws around Ritzkin and stroked the fur of his back as he continued to lick and nuzzle the smaller cat. Eventually, Ritzkin's tremors stopped, and he pushed away from the hug enough to look up at Tugger. "I never did tell you what mark me and my siblings had, did I?" Tugger shook his head, but kept silent. Ritzkin took a deep breath and began to speak, resting his head against Tugger's chest, his eyes focused on something far away and invisible to Tugger's gaze.

"Sometimes, occasionally, very rarely, the Everlasting Cat smiles upon a union between a queen and a tom, and blesses their kittens with some of its power. _Every_ kitten that comes from a litter where only that one tom is the father will have magic. The more kittens in a litter, the less magic each has, but the same amount of magic will be there."

Tugger knew that bit. Tantomile and Coricopat were magic cats from the same litter – a big litter. Tugger had heard _eight,_ but didn't know if he believed it. He didn't want to ask, though. Those cats had split up into pairs, slipping off all over the world to join tribes everywhere. Tantomile and Coricopat had joined the Jellicles and used their psychic abilities to help wherever they were needed.

"My mom and dad were blessed like that," Ritzkin continued quietly. "We all had magic, but all we could do as kittens was make sparkles." He held up his paws to demonstrate, making the tips sparkle blue and green and red. "Macavity was better at it than me, and he's the one who figured out we were brothers. He thought it would be fun to track down all our siblings and practice our magic together. It took us a long time, because we had two sisters, but we managed to find them all – Noilly, Apollinax, Mizra, and Wiskus." After naming his siblings, Ritzkin took another breath, one that shook, and Tugger looked at him in alarm, thinking his normal composed friend was crying. Ritzkin's eyes were dry, though, as he continued. "They're dead now, all of them. Macavity killed them, and I helped."

Tugger stared. He knew the rumors, of course, that Macavity had killed his siblings, and Ritzkin their mother. He had thought, though, once Ritzkin said that they hadn't killed their mother, that it meant they hadn't killed their siblings either. "H-how?" he asked, and then the more sensible question: "Why?" Ritzkin began to pull away from Tugger, frowning, but Tugger wouldn't let him go far. "I'm not… mad, or scared. I just wanna know why."

Ritzkin stopped pulling away and looked up at Tugger, his dark eyes searching Tugger's gold ones for something. When he was satisfied, he answered Tugger's question. "For their magic. Macavity did a lot of studying about magic and stuff, and asked all the cats who stopped by the docks questions, and came up with a theory. He said that our magic was in our blood, and there was only a certain amount of magic between all of us. He said that if one of us died, then that part of our total magic would be lost. He thought, though, that if he drank the blood of the magic cat before the cat died, then he could take in the magic and keep it, and make his magic stronger." Ritzkin closed his eyes. "He didn't tell me all that at first, though. He just asked me to help Noilly sneak out of the queens' nursery, because I was better at that than he was, and then he ran off with her. I helped him sneak Mizra out too. I didn't realize what he was doing until Apollinax was found dead, and I only found out about Apollinax's death after I helped Wiskus come up with an excuse to sneak away from the main gathering place too." He looked up at Tugger with such sorrow in his gaze. "I led all my brothers and sisters to their deaths at Macavity's claws."

"Well, but that's not your fault," Tugger said, trying to cheer Ritzkin up. "You didn't know he was killing them… how'd you find out, anyway?"

"I asked him, and he told me," Ritzkin replied. "He showed me how his magic _had _gotten stronger, and he told me that he would have shared them with me, if I wanted him to. He made me swear not to tell anyone else, though."

"So you're breaking your promise to tell me?" Tugger didn't know how to comfort his friend who had just told him how his brother murdered his family, but he would keep listening and talking to Ritzkin.

"I think he wants to kill me," Ritzkin whispered. "He's been practicing his magic all the time, and he's getting really good at it, but he's not happy. He keeps looking at me funny, and just today, he said he wished he had been an only child, so he could have all the magic to himself, and then he chased me." Tugger could feel Ritzkin's claws come out, even through his thick fur. "He's never chased me like that before, like I was a rat to catch and eat."

"Oh." Again, Tugger was at a loss. "Did you tell Leviticus?" If Rumpus had been trying to kill Tugger (not that Rumpus _could_ kill him – Rumpus might be stronger, but Tugger was far more cunning), Tugger would go to Deuteronomy as soon as possible to get Rumpus set straight.

Ritzkin shook his head. "No… I don't know if he'll believe me, or if he'll help me. Macavity's his favorite."

"But you're his second favorite, right?" Tugger remembered Ritzkin crowing once about how Leviticus had honored the brothers, and named them his favorite sons.

"Well, yeah, but Macavity's his first."

"You should talk to Leviticus," Tugger said firmly. "It's his job to keep his tribe from killing each other. He's supposed to protect you."

"Do you really think that'll help?" Ritzkin asked, looking skeptical.

Tugger nodded, confident in his answer. "Yeah, I do, because if I was in your place, I'd be running to Deuteronomy in an instant."

Ritzkin slowly sat up, stretching out his tense muscles. "And you won't tell anyone what I told you, right?"

Tugger shook his head and zipped his paw over his lips. "I'll keep your secret. I haven't told a single Jellicle that we hang out, and I won't tell anyone about Macavity, either."

"Thanks, Tugger," Ritzkin said quietly, looking over at the other cat. "Thanks for still being my friend."

Tugger grinned and butted his head against Ritzkin's. "Hey, we're gonna be friends forever, no matter what, right?"

He must have said something right, because Ritzkin's face lit up with a grin (weak though it was). "Right!"

"Come on." Tugger hopped out from under the bridge and streeeetched. "You said you'd tell me about Mungojerrie today!"

"Oh yeah, Mungojerrie. He's an orange tabby, and he's a little younger than me, but he was in my milk-litter…"


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Ritzkin (5/6)  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Additional Notes: Burelle is pronounced Brrrrelle, with a purrrr.

I still don't own Cats, but I do own Burelle. Sorta. I wish I owned her for real.

Reviews are very much always definitely appreciated. The last chapter got none. I felt so unloved.

Also, the Cats roleplay, Our Jellicles (ourjellicles. is doing well, but we could still always use more players. Victoria is still open, as of the time of posting this chapter. So are Tantomile and Coricopat, Gus, Skimbleshanks, Bustopher Jones, Jennyanydots, Jellylorum, possibly Pouncival, Exotica, Griddlebone, Admetus, and Rumpus Cat. Made-ups are also allowed, with permission of a majority of the staff (there is a puppy now living in the yard... what's going to happen to her? To the cats?), and members of Macavity's Monnik tribe are ADORED. Currently, we really only have one person playing all the Monniks, as well as Mistoffelees. He'd probably have more fun if there were other people to be evil with. If you're interested, go on, check it out. Please!

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Ritzkin - Part 5

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Tugger had bid Ritzkin farewell that day and worriedly watched him head back to Monnik territory, not knowing how much Leviticus actually would help.

That had been a month ago.

Summer was beginning to turn into fall, the leaves were starting to change colors, and Ritzkin hadn't shown up at the bridge ever since that day. Tugger had gotten so worried that he even ventured into Monnik territory by himself, twice, only to be chased off by Leviticus' black-furred sentinels before he could find out what happened to Ritzkin.

Now, Tugger lay sprawled out, on his back, in the middle of the living room. His humans were asleep in their beds upstairs, and Rumpus was snoring in the kitchen lamp (Tugger didn't want to know how he got up there). He sighed, his paws twitching, a frown creasing his face.

"Rumsy!"

The voice was just a whisper, hoarser than Tugger remembered, but still recognizable as Ritzkin's. The nickname helped too. With a wriggle and a bound, Tugger was on all four feet and at the open window, pressing as close to the screen as he could. "Ritzkin!"

The grey tabby on the other side of the window looked exhausted, as if he had just lost a battle. He had his claws hooked in the screen (the humans had fixed Tugger's escape hole a while ago, and replaced it with a cat door). "Rumsy… can I stay here tonight?"

Tugger nodded before pointing behind him. "Go around, there's a door in the back. I'll meet you there." He jumped down and raced through the house to get out and greet his friend properly.

Ritzkin stumbled up to Tugger and let the bigger cat support him inside. "What happened?" Tugger demanded, helping Ritzkin into the softest chair the humans had before jumping up with him. "Where have you been? You look horrible!"

Ritzkin closed his eyes, reaching out to catch Tugger's paw with his. "Leviticus believed me," he said quietly.

"And?" That wasn't good enough for Tugger. "Why do you look like someone chewed you up and spat you out?"

"He thought Macavity was showing a lot of gumption by finding ways to make himself stronger, and wholeheartedly supported it."

Tugger's jaw dropped open, and his paw tightened around Ritzkin's. "He _wanted _Macavity to kill you?"

"Basically," Ritzkin whispered. "He said I was useful, and a good son, but Macavity was a better son, and much better with his magic than I was. He said it was a waste for me to have magic I didn't use when Macavity could have it and be that much stronger."

Tugger wrapped his other arm around Ritzkin, hugging the other. "But Macavity didn't kill you."

"He tried," Ritzkin said. "He pulled me aside after I talked to Leviticus, and he told me that he was going to kill me, and he laughed, and he…" Ritzkin trailed off and tilted his head back, showing Tugger a jagged gash across his neck that was half-healed. "He took my magic."

Tugger touched the injury, causing Ritzkin to flinch. "Sorry… Does it still hurt?"

"Yes," Ritzkin whispered. "And I feel so dizzy all the time. Burelle said that was probably because I lost a lot of blood, but it could be because I lost my magic."

"Burelle?" That was a new name, one Tugger had never heard before. "Who's Burelle?

Ritzkin smiled faintly, opening his dark eyes to look up at Tugger. "She's my mom."

Tugger wasn't sure he'd ever manage to keep his jaw closed as Ritzkin dropped bombshell after bombshell. "I thought you didn't know who your mom was."

"I didn't." Ritzkin curled into Tugger's warmth, kneading his mane loosely. "But she remembered me."

"Maybe you should start at the beginning," Tugger said. "What happened, Ritzy?"

Ritzkin squirmed a bit, making himself comfortable, before he launched into his tale. "I went before Leviticus the day after you suggested it, and I told Leviticus how Macavity had tracked down our siblings and killed them, and then how I was afraid Macavity was going to do the same to me. Leviticus told me that he approved of Macavity killing me, basically, and then he said I shouldn't linger too long, because Rumpleteazer, one of the queen-kits, was going to be doing her coming-out dance, and if I was good, he might pick me to welcome her into adulthood. Then he left, and then Macavity came out. He had heard the whole thing, and he said he was very upset that I couldn't keep a secret, and so that cemented his decision. He said he was sorry, because I was his favorite brother, but killing me would both let him get stronger and keep me from telling anyone else. Then he laughed and started to attack me. I fought him off – I'm stronger than he is – but he started using his magic and managed to pin me." Ritzkin shuddered at the memory. "I scratched and scratched and tried to kick him off, but he bit my throat, and he… he…"

"You can skip that part," Tugger said quietly, guessing what had happened from the injury Ritzkin had shown him. Macavity must have nearly torn Ritzkin's throat out, to leave such a big wound behind.

"I thought I was going to die," Ritzkin continued, after taking a moment to compose himself. He drank a lot of my blood, thanked me, and walked off, just leaving me there. I just remember thinking that I was going to die, and no one would know what had happened to me, and no one would tell you… and then I don't remember anything else. When I woke up again, there was this really big queen curled around me, and we were in a den under a human house. She was licking my fur and singing to me."

"Burelle?"

Ritzkin nodded. "Burelle's a younger queen. She only had the one litter so far, she told me. She's also the prettiest queen in the whole tribe – she's big and red with no tabby stripes and green eyes. She kept singing to me, and she would bring me food and take care of my neck." Tugger made a mental note to thank Burelle for saving Ritzkin's life if he ever ran into this Monnik queen. "She told me she was my mom, and she remembered all six of us, even though Leviticus told her not to, that we wouldn't know she was our mom. She would watch us, though, and was so proud of all of us… until Macavity started killing us."

"She didn't like that, huh?" Tugger felt like he needed to fill Ritzkin's pause with words.

Ritzkin shook his head. "No. She didn't know why Macavity was doing it at first, or why I was helping him. She said she tried to save all the others, too, but she never got to them in time, and they all died." He took a deep breath. "All except for me."

"So, you've been living with Burelle all this time?" Tugger asked, earning another nod from Ritzkin.

"Yeah. It was a long time before I could get up and move around again, and I was really dizzy, like I am now. Burelle didn't want me to leave her den, though, because she was afraid Macavity would try to kill me again. That's why I didn't come to meet you earlier."

"It's okay," Tugger replied. "I'm just happy you're not dead."

"She's happy too. She said she forgave me for helping Macavity kill the others, after I told her what was happening. But I couldn't stay with her forever, she said." Ritzkin looked up at Tugger again. "She said if I returned to the Monniks, Macavity would kill me, or I'd have to kill him. I don't want to kill anyone anymore. I thought… maybe… maybe I could stay with you?"

Tugger's grin was so wide it was threatening to split his face in two. "Yeah! You can stay with me, and be a Jellicle, and you can be my _brother_! I've always wanted a brother like you, and not like Rumpus Cat, who thinks he's a _Pollicle_." Tugger rolled his eyes at that. Rumpus Cat's latest obsession was with Pollicles, and he tried to imitate them most of the time. Tugger didn't understand it.

Ritzkin smiled, the relief evident in his eyes. "Thank you, Rumsy. I don't know what I would have done if you'd said no…"

Tugger butted his head against Ritzkin's. "You're my best friend. I wouldn't ever throw you out."

"Do you think the Jellicles will let me stay?" Ritzkin asked. "I mean… I know I have a really bad reputation, and there are stories about how I ate my mom–"

"Stories that are completely false," Tugger interrupted. "But… yeah… they might not be too happy letting the Terror Twin Ritzkin join the tribe." He fell quiet for a while, thinking about this problem. "What if… what if you weren't the Terror Twin Ritzkin?" he suggested slowly. "What if we changed your name, and said you were a new cat my humans brought home from the pound, and you had gotten hurt there, so you don't remember much of anything before you came here?" Tugger nodded toward the gash on Ritzkin's throat. "That would explain your injuries, and it would mean we don't have to come up with a story, and the Jellicles _always_ let new cats to the neighborhood join."

"Change my name?"

"Yeah. You wouldn't be my Ritzy anymore. You could be…" Tugger screwed up his face, trying to think of good names. "What about… Dionysus?" That was a name from stories some of his humans read to each other. "Or Aphrodite?"

"What about more of a cat name?" Ritzkin said, making a face at those names. "Like… Munkustrap, or maybe Rastiball."

"Shakespeare! Or Romeo, or Tybalt…" More names his humans threw around.

Ritzkin stuck out his tongue. "I like Munkustrap."

Tugger nodded. "I like Munkustrap too." If Ritzkin liked Munkustrap, then Munkustrap would be his name. "I dub thee now Munkustrap, soon to be of the Jellicles."

Ritzkin-now-Munkustrap yawned as Tugger 'knighted' him with his paw, covering his mouth and looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry about that… I'm just really tired."

"Maybe we should sleep, then," Tugger said. "You've had a rough month." This was the first time he would fall asleep with Ritzkin, he realized, as they usually went their own ways before either of them were tired.

Ritzkin nodded, resting his head on his paws. "Night, Rumsy."

"Good night, Ritzy." Tugger set his own head down as well, curling his tail protectively around the grey tabby. Nobody was going to hurt his new brother with him there!


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Ritzkin (6/6)  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.  
Additional Notes: This is the end of this story, but I have a couple ideas for more stories in this arc, possibly including the rescue of Demeter, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer joining the group, a Tugger/Munkustrap fling, a Simbol and Deuteronomy scene, the death of Simbol, and a Mistoffelees continuation, to name a few. I don't know, though, which of those I'll actually write, and which ones will just sit in my head forever. Let me know which ones you want to see, and I'll try to get those done first!

Also, a HUUUUGE thank you to all my reviewers, but especially to Sleeping Tiger, Eminems6, and -X-Loner-X-Starlight-X- for reviewing more than once! I've never done requests before, but, for the three of you, I think I'll give it a try. If you want a Cats fic, just give me characters, a prompt, whatever. If there's a certain rating you want, I can try to hit it, but I can't guarantee anything M or above (R or above) (I'd try, though).

I do not own Cats or anything involving Cats, except for a really old VHS and a much newer DVD. And the soundtrack. But that's it. I do own Simbol, though. Except not for real.

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**_Ritzkin - Part 6_**

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**_Morning came to the two cats with a scream as Rumpus Cat fell out of the light and onto one of the humans' shoulders. Tugger and Ritzkin lifted their heads and snickered at the sight before turning to each other with grins. It was real! They were both still here, together. Ritzkin was going to be a Jellicle! 

The human moved into the living room after removing Rumpus Cat, grumbling about the idiocy of certain felines. He was about to sit in the chair Tugger and Ritzkin occupied, but Tugger hissed and slashed at his approaching butt. The human jumped away again, cursing all felinity in general, and 'Spots' and 'Shadow' in particular (Tugger and Rumpus' human names), when he stopped, noticing Ritzkin. Tugger stood and stretched on the couch, showing off all his claws and teeth, a veiled threat to the human if he tried to hurt Ritzkin. Ritzkin's eyes never left the human, and he tried to shrink back into the cushions. He had never been this close to a human before, not a human who knew he was there, at least, and it was rather daunting to have the gaze of such a large creature focused on him.

The human called to his mate, and eventually, the human queen showed up. The first human pointed to Ritzkin, complaining about the cat door, and unwanted strays showing up. Tugger's ears went back at that, and he growled under his breath. He'd show his human 'unwanted strays.'

The queen shook her head and reached down to pet Tugger, smoothing his fur back. She addressed him directly, which surprised Ritzkin.

"I'm sorry, Spots, but your friend can't stay with us. The house is barely big enough for two humans and two cats. Three cats would be too many."

Tugger purred and wound himself around the queen's arm, rubbing his face, body, and tail against her in a way that would be downright flirtatious, if she had been a cat.

The queen laughed and ruffled Tugger's fur. "Yes, I know you're a pretty boy, but two cats are almost too many! Three would be impossible!"

Tugger growled, laying his ears back and swiping at her hands, earning a swat on his nose from the queen. Still growling, he turned to look back at Ritz- at Munkustrap. "She says no… Ritzy… Munkustrap, I'm sorry. We can't live here. But maybe we can go live at the junkyard together!"

Munkustrap shook his head, getting to his feet. "No, Tugger, it's okay. You stay here with your humans."

"I'm not going to let you go back to the Monniks!" Tugger said, jumping in front of Ritzk- of Munkustrap when he tried to get down from the chair.

Munkustrap smiled faintly, touching his nose to Tugger's. "I'm not going back to the Monniks. I wanna be a Jellicle, with you. I don't have to live with you, though. I could live in the junkyard, and you can live here, and we can keep on playing that we have to sneak out to visit each other, 'cause that's fun."

Tugger blinked. "You're okay with that?"

With a nod, Munkustrap jumped out of the chair. A good night's sleep in a safe place had done wonders for his balance. "Yeah! I've always wanted to live on my own, and not have to share with evil Macavity." He made a face, and Tugger snickered.

"Okay… if you're sure." Tugger jumped down after Rit- after Munkustrap and sauntered past him toward the cat door. He turned up his nose when the humans tried to pet him, curving away from their questing hands and ignoring their apologies. "I'll be back later, Rumpus!" he called, before stepping outside.

First things first. If Ritzkin was to officially… Tugger shook his head. If _Munkustrap_ was to officially become a Jellicle, he would need to be introduced to Old Deuteronomy and Simbol, the Jellicle Protector, and they would have to accept him. It was all well and good for Tugger to say Rit- to say Munkustrap was a Jellicle, but it needed an official sanction to be true.

Old Deuteronomy and Simbol seemed to be conspiring with each other to make things easier on the two young toms. They were both stretched out in the sun together on the vicarage wall, talking quietly with each other. "Stay here," Tugger whispered to Ritzki- to Munkustrap. "I'll call you out when it's time."

Munkustrap nodded, pressing himself back in the shadows. Tugger's sharp eyes caught a faint trembling in his friend's paws, but he didn't say anything about it, and Ritz- Munkustrap's glare dared him to comment. Tugger was sure he'd be shaking like a leaf if he had to go and meet Leviticus, even if Ritzkin said it was okay.

"Dad?" Tugger jumped up onto the wall, using a conveniently-placed trash can to get up there. He wasn't big enough yet to make the jump in a single bound. "Can I talk to you? And Simbol?"

Old Deuteronomy lifted his head, smiling at his youngest son. He nodded, but did not stir from his reclining position. The sun felt too nice on his old bones, especially now that the days were cooling off.

Simbol sat up, though, looking down at Tugger with a fond smile. The white and gold tom was large and solidly built, and he had been protecting the Jellicles for eight years now. Some people thought he would retire soon, and pass the job on to a successor (though he hadn't really been training one), while others thought he was going to keep going until he died, either killed in the job, or from old age.

"What can we do for you, my son?" Deuteronomy asked, touching his large paw to Tugger's smaller one.

"Um… I was wonderin' something." Tugger looked between Simbol and Deuteronomy, and then down at the stones of the wall. "If there was a kitten that wanted to be a Jellicle, you'd say yes, right?"

Deueteronomy's ears perked up at that, and he exchanged a glance with Simbol. "A kitten, you say? Do you know of any kittens like this?"

Tugger nodded, his story beginning to spill out. "I have a friend, his name is R-Munkustrap, and he…" Tugger had to think fast, the 'My humans saved him from the pound' story wasn't going to work anymore. "His humans tried to drown him!" That was even more horrific than the pound story, the declaration of a human cruel enough to kill kittens. Tugger let his head, ears, and tail droop in sadness as he continued to spin the tale. "Him and his brothers and sisters were all together in a bag, and they were crying, but the human laughed and dumped them in the river, and they were all fighting to get out, and one of them scratched Munkustrap on accident, and when I found the bag, only Munkustrap was still alive and crying and I helped him out and then I told him he could be a Jellicle… so can he?" Tugger looked between the two older toms. "Can he be a Jellicle with us?"

Simbol and Deuteronomy exchanged another look, and then turned to Tugger together. "Probably. Why don't you bring him up here, and we can talk to him and decide?"

Tugger nodded and jumped down from the wall, running to fetch Rit- Munkustrap. He quietly filled him in on the drowning story as they returned to the older cats' sides. Ri- Munkustrap's paws were definitely shaking, now, and he was pressed against Tugger's side from shoulder to hip, but he looked like he was trying to be brave, and so Tugger just patted his paw and smiled at him. "Dad? Simbol? This is Munkustrap, my new friend."

Deuteronomy looked at the little silver tabby and smiled warmly. Simbol walked over to Ritz- to Munkustrap and began circling around him, asking him questions. "What is your name?"

"M-Munkustrap." There was a slight quiver in the kitten's voice that matched the tremble of his paws.

"Who is your father?"

Ritzk- Munkustrap pressed closer to Tugger and shook his head. "I don't know…"

"Who is your mother?"

"Her name was Burelle."

"_Was_ Burelle?"

R- Munkustrap hung his head and again pushed closer against Tugger. Tugger staggered slightly, but kept his footing, pushing back a little to let his friend know he was there. "I don't know where she is now," the tabby said quietly. "The human tried to kill me… he might have tried to kill her too… I don't know, I don't know!"

"Hush." Deuteronomy rose to his feet now, padding over to Tugger and Munkustrap. He bent down, licking Munkustrap between the ears a couple times. "Be at peace, kitten. You are safe here. We will not take you back to your human, though we will try to find out what happened to your mother."

Munkustrap looked over at Tugger before closing his eyes and nodding. "I can stay?" he asked quietly.

"I don't see why not," Deuteronomy answered. He looked over at Simbol. "Do you have a problem with this?"

Simbol shook his head, lying down again. "I do not. Welcome to the Jellicle tribe, Munkustrap." He smiled warmly at the kitten.

Tugger let out a whoop, jumping into the air. "Yeah! You're a Jellicle! I _told_ you it would be all right!"

Deuteronomy chuckled, resuming his position in the sun. "I am sorry, Munkustrap, but you will find that the only toms your age are my two sons, Tugger and Skollus… and they are _quite_ a handful indeed."

Munkustrap offered the Jellicle leader a shy smile, reaching out to touch Tugger's paw. "That's okay, Sir. I think we'll be friends anyway."

* * *

To Be Continued in 'Future,' Number Two in the Ritzkin Arc! 


End file.
